The ever-changing Arizona sports betting market will welcome two new sportsbooks in the coming months.
The state Department of Gaming announced Friday it allocated Arizona sports betting licenses to Plannatech and Sporttrade. The two operators are partnered with the San Carlos Apache Tribal Gaming Enterprise and the Quechan Indian Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation, respectively.
There were no less than two licenses available during the state’s sports betting license application window last month. However, since then, several licenses have or will become open as operators close shop in the Grand Canyon State.
Each sports betting license in Arizona incurs a $100,000 fee, plus a $750,000 initial license cost and $150,000 annual renewal charge.
Back in Arizona sports betting
These are the second sportsbook partnerships for Quechan Tribe and San Carlos Apache Tribe.
The Quechan partnered with Unibet to open Arizona sports betting in 2021. The sportsbook pulled out of North America earlier this year.
San Carlos Apache initially paired with WynnBet. The operator also recently shut down its Arizona operation.
Partner history
With Arizona, the UK-based Plannatech’s is expanding its US presence. It supplies the backend to Prime Sports in Ohio and New Jersey.
As a Plannatech is a B2B compay, the San Carlos Apache Tribe will likely rollout a sportsbook similar to Tohono O’odham Nation’s Desert Diamond Sports.
Arizona is the fourth market for Sporttrade. The sportsbook operator is live in Iowa, New Jersey and Colorado, although Sporttrade’s flagship sports betting exchange is only available in New Jersey because of regulatory hurdles in other markets.
More licenses available in Arizona
Arizona law created 20 sports betting licenses, including 10 each for professional sports team and tribes. When the application period in July was announced, there were two licenses connected to each category available.
Since the period was announced, three other sportsbooks announced an end to their Arizona sports betting attempts:
- Betway, which partnered with the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe.
- SaharaBets, which gained access through the former Arizona Coyotes NHL franchise.
- SuperBook, which was in Arizona through a deal with the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe.
Revolving Arizona sports betting door
Along with the two tribes trying out second partnerships, two other tribes are also working with new sportsbooks.
After an initial partnership with Fubo Sportsbook, the Ak-Chin Indian Community is now working with bet365. In February, bet365 launched in the market.
After TwinSpires pulled out of US sports betting, the Tonto Apache Tribe turned to Fanatics. Fantatics began taking Arizona bets in April.
Hard market to crack
Arizona sportsbooks have handled than $17.7 million in wagers since September 2021. Four operators controlled more than 85% of the market’s handle in the ADG’s May 2024 sports betting report:
| Sportsbook | Handle | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| FanDuel | $192.7 million | 34.2% |
| DraftKings | $188.3 million | 33.4% |
| BetMGM | $63.5 million | 11.3% |
| Caesars | $35.3 million | 6.3% |
| Bet365 | $25.5 million | 4.5% |
| ESPN Bet | $18.3 million | 3.2% |
| Fanatics | $16.7 million | 3% |
| Remaining 10 sportsbooks | $22.9 million | 4.1% |
| Total | $563.2 million |
